The Sky Sox are plowing ahead in their mission to change the team’s name, and they say they have about 1,500 suggestions to work with.

General manager Chris Phillips hopes for about 1,000 more name suggestions as the team amps up its in-stadium drive for engagement – including an offer of a free ticket for a submission – prior to Wednesday’s 5 p.m. deadline.

“It’s been going well,” Philips said. “I’m very happy with the engagement. … We’re kind of ahead of pace of where we thought we would be.”

Without revealing any of the submitted names that the team has received in the three weeks since kicking off a renaming and rebranding effort that will coincide with a drop from Triple-A to Rookie League next year, Phillips said fans showed creativity with the region’s history, wildlife and military themes.

“There’s some good ones out there,” he said.

There has also been backlash. The team’s social media page has drawn at least as many negative comments regarding the name change as those showing support or offering suggestions.

Phillips said he anticipated some backlash, noting it has been the norm in the short-term whenever a team around the country has gone through a similar process.

“People aren’t comfortable with change,” Phillips said. “It’s tough for people to swallow sometimes, but we know it’s the right thing to do. We’re confident that if we work the process in the way that we’re supposed to, we think everybody will like what we come up with.”

After closing off the window for suggestions on Wednesday, the team will internally narrow the list to about 10 names that it will submit to Minor League Baseball to assure they are available to be trademarked. After that, about five to seven names will be submitted to a fan vote.